title: Micropatterning of silica nanoparticles by electrospray deposition through a stencil mask.
abstract: This article describes the local deposition, or micropatterning, of silica nanoparticles (NPs) using an electrospray method with a stencil mask. The proposed technique can be carried out in a single step at room temperature and atmospheric pressure under dry conditions, allowing it to be used with water- or vacuum-sensitive materials, and leading to cost reductions and high throughput. An evaluation of the patterning accuracy using a 20 µm thick mask showed that for patterns with line widths greater than 50 µm, the pattern was reproduced with an accuracy greater than 95%. When silver NPs were preferably deposited on the silica NPs using a modified silver mirror reaction, they were found to exhibit strong surface-enhanced Raman scattering effects. The proposed process is readily applicable to the development of high-performance micro total analysis systems.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Higashi
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hotta
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hishida
authors.forename: Norihisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miki
mesh_terms: D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman
chemical_list: D012834:Silver; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: electrospray; patterning; shadow mask; silica nanoparticles; surface-enhanced Raman